Student Diversity Ambassador Program

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Cal Poly Student Diversity Ambassador Program
March 20-27, 2004
The Civil Rights Trip to the South

The contributions that African Americans have made to the United States of Amerca are numerous. The average high school history curriculum in California and other states excludes many of these contributions. As a result, students of all ethnic backgrounds come to college with a skewed view of American history. This Civil Rights Journey Project seeks to expose students to the contributions that African Americans have made and continue to make in this country, including the Civil Rights Movement.

The roots of many Americans, most notably, African Americans is in the southern portion of the country. States such as Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, the Carolinas, and Virginia are where many African Americans trace their family roots. The South represents the birthplace of slavery in American and the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans created racism in the form of Jim Crow Laws. Many of these colleges, known as Historically Black Coleges and Universities have retained some of the history that is slowly fading from the minds of our youth. The Civil Rights Trip to the South is a personal journey and real life education for our students today.

The importance of African American students understanding their rich academic and socio-political history has never been more important than it is today. The relatively low numbers of African American students enrolled at Cal Poly Pomona speaks to many barriers, including a backgrounds need an inreased awareness of just how the Civil Rights Movements contributed to institutions of higher learning, such as Cal Poly Pomona being as diverse as it is today.

What is the Cal Poly Student Diversity Ambassador Program?
The Cal Poly Student Ambassador Program was formed to educate Cal Poly students about the significance of the Civil Rights Movement. Our goal is to have students of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds travel to Alabama and Georgia to visit historical monuments, museums, black colleges, churches, and institutions related to the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement.